Canadian Blast at The Great Escape May 15, 2009

For Immediate Release:

Friday May 8th 2009

Canadian Blast Returns to UK at The Great Escape

Canada is making a splash at The Great Escape Festival in Brighton, UK. For three days, 20 Canadian bands will travel to the UK, showcasing music from St. John's, Newfoundland to Vancouver, British Columbia. To celebrate, the Canadian Independent Record Production Association (CIRPA) in conjunction with The Great Escape, is hosting its inaugural Great Escape Canadian Blast! Showcase, starting at noon on Friday May 15th at The Arc (160 Kings Road Arches) on the waterfront. Immediately following the showcase at the same venue (The Arc) there will be a Canadian Blast! Mixer to meet the Canadians and enjoy some Canadian hospitality from 4PM – 6PM.

Doors – 12PM

Dan Mangan - 12:15PM (Vancouver, BC)

www.myspace.com/danmangan

Gaining fans with every performance, Dan Mangan is slowly making his way from Vancouver to the depths of your listening environment. With a thoughtful delivery (think M. Ward), Dan’s weather-beaten vocals serve as a graceful conduit for his thoughtful lyrics. As an emerging young artist, he finds himself in the footsteps of Ryan Adams, Damien Rice or Bright Eyes, building a grass roots following of loyal listeners just a few ears at a time.

Ultimate Power Duo - 1:00PM (Saskatoon, SK)

www.myspace.com/ultimatepowerduo

Ultimate Power Duo are the masters and purveyors of Demolition Rock. This Saskatoon three-piece duo, have hit the roads and ditches across Canada, The US, and The UK preaching their form rock n' roll revelation while still managing to release four EP's in quick succession... each one a last of loudtightfast garage rock.

Hey Rosetta! - 1:45PM (St. John's, NF)

www.myspace.com/heyrosetta

Seeded by Tim after returning home to St. John’s in 2005, Hey Rosetta! quickly bloomed and grew from bars on George Street to showcases at Junofest, ECMAs, CMW & NXNE, along the way winning four MusicNL Awards and a couple ECMA nominations. Recorded in the dead of winter in two East Coast harbour towns with producer and singer-songwriter Hawksley Workman, Hey Rosetta's new record, Into Your Lungs, is filled with beautiful naivety and confidence. Already it has won an East Coast Music Award in Canada.

Arkells - 2:30PM (Hamilton, ON)

www.myspace.com/arkellsmusic

Sharing a love of the kind of raw, soulful “Springsteenesque” rock that inspires a teen to pick up a guitar and start a band, the Arkells formed in Hamilton, ON, in 2006. Since the release of “Deadlines” the band has traveled across Canada sharing stages with Bedouin Soundclash, Matt Mays & El Torpedo, Sam Roberts Band, Constantines, Alexisonfire, and City and Colour. More recent performances include a stint opening for legendary rockers Black Crowes, MTV Live and V-Fest. Their debut, Jackson Square, was released by Dine Alone Records in 2008.

Ohbijou - 3:15PM (Toronto, ON)

www.myspace.com/ohbijou

Borne in the bedrooms of a family home in Brantford, Ontario, Casey Mecija's tender compositions, bound with youthful frailty and unnerving beauty, found their pace in Toronto. Enlisting the help of her younger sister, Jenny, and friends Heather Kirby and Anissa Hart, Mecija's songs took flight. Now they return with their highly anticipated sophomore album, Beacons. The record has gleaned early praise from critics and is being touted as one of 2009’s most anticipated albums. In March the band will travel to Texas for SXSW; a North American Tour will commence shortly thereafter. In the UK/EU, Beacons will be released on Bella Union (also home to Fleet Foxes, Midlake, Andrew Bird, etc.) in June.

The following Canadian bands will perform at The Great Escape:

Arkells

The Acorn

Beast

Brian Borcherdt

Dan Mangan

Duchess Says

Hey Rosetta!

Holy Fuck

LIGHTS

Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland

Karkwa

Kate Rogers

Metric

Ohbijou

Rebekah Higgs

Ruby Jean & The Thoughtful Bees

Ultimate Power Duo

We Are Wolves

Wintersleep

Woodpigeon

“The Great Escape is a great opportunity for our artists to showcase for UK and European music professionals. Our artists have always done well in Europe and Britain, and this year we have sent one of the largest contingents ever to a British event to kick off the season. Canadians are a great draw anywhere they play and we expect to do a lot of new business as a result of The Great Escape.” – Duncan McKie, President & CEO of CIRPA.

In addition to CIRPA, the following Canadian companies will be in attendance: Avalanche Productions (M For Montreal), Bedlam Music Management, Burnt Tree Entertainment, Canadian Music Week, Dote Management, Equator Music, Groupe Karkwa, Mels Rockpile Management, Music Nova Scotia, Remi Arora Management, Six Shooter Entertainment, Sonic Entertainment Group, Wonderboy Entertainment Inc.

Canadian Blast is presented by CIRPA, The Ontario Media Development Corporation, the Radio Starmaker Fund and the Government of Canada, in association with Canadian Music Week and the Catalogue of Canadian Instrumental Music.